Happy Easter!

First of all, a nice picture taken in February by Auntie Isabel. Thanks!


I am about one week away from my third trimester! Which means I'm about 27 weeks (give or take a few days... but I'm allowed to round a little, right?) So, I'm pretty excited to meet our James, can you tell?
Here's the latest baby belly picture:

Not too bad, eh? Only 3 months to go!

James is growing SO FAST!! He can sure kick up a storm on all four corners of my belly (and sometimes all 4 at the same time!) He is head down right now, and I think I actually feel his arms moving more often than his legs (let's hope it stays that way for my ribs' sake...)

The funniest thing is that he gets hiccups so often! About every other day I notice this little rhythmic thumping in one spot. The hiccup speed is really quick, but the bout of hiccups goes on for several minutes! It was pretty distracting trying to listen to Garrick play his Schnittke piece at his Master's recital with James hiccoughing the whole time!
I think I feel him jumping at loud noises every now and then, but it's pretty hard to tell if it is a coincidence or him really reacting to the outside world.

The past 4 weeks have brought a lot of changes- he is really making leaps and bounds in his growth. I am starting to have a few practice contractions every now and then, and my ribs and pelvic bone are being "adjusted" to accommodate him by a hormone called relaxin (kind of painful, especially at the end of the day!)

Recently, Liz gave me the cutest little onesie for James- since he is the year of the tiger, she found here. I'm so excited, because it depicts the Chinese folk art version of a tiger. I have a small collection of these tigers that I got during my trips there, and I think they are extremely cute and unique.

Garrick's mom just finished the first baby quilt for James. It is a mini replica of the quilt she made for me as an engagement present- an astronomy quilt complete with stars, nebulas and supernovas, and a backing with tons of planets on it. We promised her we would someday go stargazing with the quilts to keep us warm. I wish I could post a picture of it, hopefully we'll get one up sometime soon.

Also, Garrick is officially done with his Masters recital. He played Brahms' Sonata in F major, Boccherini Sonata in A major, and the Schnittke Sonata with his dad on piano and mom turning pages. All who attended can attest that the performance was a spectacular success. Even James was enjoying himself the whole time.

I have also begun giving Chinese lessons to a new family in our ward. It has been fun so far, and I hope to learn a lot from the experience. The kids really amaze me with their pronunciation and curiosity about how the language works.

In other news, much to our disappointment, we found out Yale is not going to work out this time. We're working on the next plans, with more developments to follow!

And, as a last note, here are some pictures of our annual Easter Bunny cake! Complete with pear slices for ears, coconut fur and grass, and jelly bean bunny "droppings" (thanks to Garrick's dad: "I always thought of those as rabbit droppings..." gross. yet stuck in our mind forever.)